1. Field
This application relates generally to exercise equipment and more specifically it relates to a hanging device that allows dumbbells to be attached to a barbell bar for use as weights for barbells.
2. Prior Art
Discussion of Prior Art
Weightlifting is a popular sport activity. Depending on the routines, it builds strength, stamina and muscle mass. Free weights are superior to weight machines in that they allow more balanced development of strength, coordination and agility. The most commonly used free weight devices consist of a barbell having an elongated cylindrical lifting bar with disk-shaped weights removably placed on either end of the bar. Other free weight devices include dumbbells, which generally have a bar handle with weights on either end. Both barbells and dumbbells are great options for free weight exercises however they have different benefits. For example, a barbell is more convenient for squat, deadlift and power clean, while dumbbells allow a greater range of motion and are great for symmetrical development of muscle.
Previously, effort was made to design a combination device in which dumbbells can be used as a barbell or for added weights to a barbell cross bar. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,366,200 to Matysek (1921) describes a bar having a number of apertures therethrough and a pair of dumbbells each having a large aperture therethrough sized to slide onto the end of the bar. A pair of cotter pins or the like can then be slid through the apertures in the bar on either side of the dumbbell to lock the dumbbells in place to provide dumbbells on a barbell type bar. This prior system has the disadvantage in that the dumbbell handles have to be large enough to have an aperture that will slide onto a barbell bar and still give sufficient strength in the handles. The handles then become unduly large, which do not comfortably fit the hands of the user. In addition, both the bar and the dumbbell need to be custom made, which are expensive. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,243 to Allen (1996) for an exercising device, a weight lifting bar is provided having a bracket attached to each end. Each of a pair of dumbbells is latched into the bracket so that the dumbbells can be used as weights for a barbell. However, each device can accommodate only one dumbbell. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,072 B2 to Allen (2006), a handle of a dumbbell is connected to a bar clamp. The bar clamp has an elongated open sided tube which receives the handle of the dumbbell. A tubular extension extends perpendicular from the open sided tube for attaching to a matching bar, thereby converting a pair of dumbbells into a barbell. Unfortunately, each bar clamp can accommodate only one dumbbell. In addition, the tubular extension cannot be securely retained on the bar, which presents a safety concern.